The Villas at Disney's Grand Californian Owners & Lovers Group - 2.0

[stopher1]

Those numbers are insane. We were at Disneyland once in February after there had been about a month of constant rain. Everyone in Southern California decided to come to the resort. It was pointless.

A colleague from work took his family for the week. I warned him.

When the park reaches capacity, can you leave and come back in? I'd think that getting out of the park and returning mid-evening would be a good strategy.

It was automatic handstamps upon entry. Once they stop, no one goes in until the exit count drops to compensate. So going out is risky. You might get back in and you might not. We were fortunate to get back in after we had left for a while.

It gets worse in the evening given the evening entertainments. A third F! Was added due to the crowds. For both the first & second F! Shows, announcements were made over the PA that the viewing area was full, and to avoid the area.

 

[Davids-Coco]

Quick question: Is there a hose on the vacuums? I'm thinking about packing my pillow and would like to use a space bag.

 

[JimmyJam838]

We decided to add a night at the beginning of our reservation on 2/13, but there there were no studios or 1 bedroom villas available for that day. We are going to be staying at the Disneyland hotel for the first night in a premium view room, checking in 2/12. I have 40 points in holding that have to be used before 8/31, and figured I would rather use them at Disneyland hotel than lose them.

Does anyone know if Bell services will transfer the luggage between hotels at the Disneyland Resort? We will be checking into a 1 bedroom on 2/13 at VGC.

 

[maburke]

Happy New Year, VGC lovers! I just made reservations for the end of May. (I originally made them for June at our 11 month window, but had to change the timing.) I had to wait list Memorial Day weekend. Does anyone know whether it's easier to get a dedicated or lock-off 2BR? From the diagram linked on the first page, it looks like the numbers are equal.

Thanks!

 

[JimmyJam838]

I would think a dedicated would open up first since only 1 room would have to open up. With a non dedicated 2 bedroom, both a studio and 1 bedroom would have to be cancelled unless someone had a non-dedicated 2 bedroom they cancelled.

 

[franandaj]

We decided to add a night at the beginning of our reservation on 2/13, but there there were no studios or 1 bedroom villas available for that day. We are going to be staying at the Disneyland hotel for the first night in a premium view room, checking in 2/12. I have 40 points in holding that have to be used before 8/31, and figured I would rather use them at Disneyland hotel than lose them.

Does anyone know if Bell services will transfer the luggage between hotels at the Disneyland Resort? We will be checking into a 1 bedroom on 2/13 at VGC.

We had a situation in November where we stayed at the DLH because we had to switch our weekend at the last minute. I posted some pictures in this thread of our room, it had a magical headboard. It wasn't the Grand, but it was pretty nice. I have no idea if they will shift your bags, but I would imagine so...

 

[wbl2745]

The Wonderland Market has been mentioned here for grocery delivery. I was looking at it on-line and it is a liquor store as well as a market. But that makes me think that they might not have dairy or fresh fruit. Perhaps more of a 7/11 than a market. So my question is can they deliver things like sugar-free yogurt (e.g. Yoplait with the blue lid), eggs, milk, cold cereal, bananas?

 

[franandaj]

The Wonderland Market has been mentioned here for grocery delivery. I was looking at it on-line and it is a liquor store as well as a market. But that makes me think that they might not have dairy or fresh fruit. Perhaps more of a 7/11 than a market. So my question is can they deliver things like sugar-free yogurt (e.g. Yoplait with the blue lid), eggs, milk, cold cereal, bananas?

I noticed that they were lacking in the produce area, although they did have bananas as well as other fruit. They did have dairy but I don't know about sugar free yogurt, I would call them up before you go. They were MUCH more equipped than a 7-11 and I got the idea that they would be willing to get you what you wanted. They are a mom and pop business trying to stay alive in today's economy and seemed quite willling to get what the customer needed if they could.

 

[Inkmahm]

Does anyone know if Bell services will transfer the luggage between hotels at the Disneyland Resort? We will be checking into a 1 bedroom on 2/13 at VGC.

No, they don't do this. I read elsewhere on the Disneyland board that there is no similar service at Disneyland as there is at WDW for resort transfer. You have to check out of your DL resort and move the luggage yourself to the next resort. They will hold it in storage for you until you can check into your room.

We were going to do a VGC /DLH split stay at the end of this month and changed to VCE/GCH stay instead to avoid having to haul our luggage from one end of Disney to the other.

 

[nunzia]

The Wonderland Market has been mentioned here for grocery delivery. I was looking at it on-line and it is a liquor store as well as a market. But that makes me think that they might not have dairy or fresh fruit. Perhaps more of a 7/11 than a market. So my question is can they deliver things like sugar-free yogurt (e.g. Yoplait with the blue lid), eggs, milk, cold cereal, bananas?

I know that they had milk and cereal since we got those..My DSIL discovered this place on a walk and brought back the stuff so I didn't see the store first hand. The flyer she brough back has pictures of fresh fruit, so I'm guessing they have that also..do not know about the yogurt, but since they have milk I'm sure they have some sort of dairy section.

 

[Longhairbear]

Did anyone watch this fireworks/fountains show at DCA from their villa balcony on NYE?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWKSLCGzGUI

 

[mikeandkarla]

Did anyone watch this fireworks/fountains show at DCA from their villa balcony on NYE?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWKSLCGzGUI

That was awesome!! Liked the way they synced woc with the fireworks.

 

[funatdisney]

Thank you for sharing, Longhairbear. That was an incredibly special show. They really did it up on NYE. That was the first time I have seen fireworks at DCA. Do they do that every year?

 

[marts35]

Thanks Longhairbear for the link to the Fireworks at WOC. What a nice surprise for all those there. It was fun to watch!
Then of course, I had to watch the ones from Disneyland, and a few others, and share it with DH It was great fun to extend the holiday a little more and look forward to our next visit, too!

 

[JimmyJam838]

No, they don't do this. I read elsewhere on the Disneyland board that there is no similar service at Disneyland as there is at WDW for resort transfer. You have to check out of your DL resort and move the luggage yourself to the next resort. They will hold it in storage for you until you can check into your room.

We were going to do a VGC /DLH split stay at the end of this month and changed to VCE/GCH stay instead to avoid having to haul our luggage from one end of Disney to the other.

Thanks, maybe it would be a good idea to pack an overnight bag for that one night and leave the rest in the car or storage.

 

[Longhairbear]

Thank you for sharing, Longhairbear. That was an incredibly special show. They really did it up on NYE. That was the first time I have seen fireworks at DCA. Do they do that every year?

I think that was the first time. The WOC show can be changed very quickly, adding new effects etc.

 

[funatdisney]

I have always thought that the WOC can be easily changed to fit any occasion. They did a great job with working in the fireworks with the WOC. I see a great potential with the WOC in future shows.

 

[lulubelle]

Are they still doing the Tron bit at the end of WOC? We thought it was very well done and cool.

 

[Longhairbear]

Are they still doing the Tron bit at the end of WOC? We thought it was very well done and cool.

I haven't heard if they are still doing Tron or not. With the flexibilities of WOC changing for any event quickly, the viewing deck at VGC might be better than we have all thought. The NYE fireworks at DCA/WOC must have been a blast to see from the VGC viewing deck, or even the villa balconies facing DCA.
We are hearing that private parties (corporate companies) renting DCA for an evening can have WOC customized to anything. That would be fun to see from the balconies, or viewing deck.

 

[stopher1]

Are they still doing the Tron bit at the end of WOC? We thought it was very well done and cool.

I can't say about this week, but last week they certainly were. Saw it on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday evening...